diff --git a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go
index e5823b3ab..3d36ad805 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master-internal_test.go
@@ -533,3 +533,16 @@ func sortJsonPatches(p []apihelper.JsonPatch) []apihelper.JsonPatch {
 	sort.Slice(p, func(i, j int) bool { return p[i].Path < p[j].Path })
 	return p
 }
+
+// Remove any labels having the given prefix
+func removeLabelsWithPrefix(n *api.Node, search string) []apihelper.JsonPatch {
+	var p []apihelper.JsonPatch
+
+	for k := range n.Labels {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(k, search) {
+			p = append(p, apihelper.NewJsonPatch("remove", "/metadata/labels", k, ""))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return p
+}
diff --git a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go
index 9b5e3775e..ef22d466f 100644
--- a/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go
+++ b/pkg/nfd-master/nfd-master.go
@@ -580,10 +580,6 @@ func (m *nfdMaster) updateNodeFeatures(nodeName string, labels Labels, annotatio
 	patches := createPatches(oldLabels, node.Labels, labels, "/metadata/labels")
 	patches = append(patches, createPatches(nil, node.Annotations, annotations, "/metadata/annotations")...)
 
-	// Also, remove all labels with the old prefix, and the old version label
-	patches = append(patches, removeLabelsWithPrefix(node, "node.alpha.kubernetes-incubator.io/nfd")...)
-	patches = append(patches, removeLabelsWithPrefix(node, "node.alpha.kubernetes-incubator.io/node-feature-discovery")...)
-
 	// Patch the node object in the apiserver
 	err = m.apihelper.PatchNode(cli, node.Name, patches)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -612,19 +608,6 @@ func (m *nfdMaster) getKubeconfig() (*restclient.Config, error) {
 	return m.kubeconfig, err
 }
 
-// Remove any labels having the given prefix
-func removeLabelsWithPrefix(n *api.Node, search string) []apihelper.JsonPatch {
-	var p []apihelper.JsonPatch
-
-	for k := range n.Labels {
-		if strings.HasPrefix(k, search) {
-			p = append(p, apihelper.NewJsonPatch("remove", "/metadata/labels", k, ""))
-		}
-	}
-
-	return p
-}
-
 // createPatches is a generic helper that returns json patch operations to perform
 func createPatches(removeKeys []string, oldItems map[string]string, newItems map[string]string, jsonPath string) []apihelper.JsonPatch {
 	patches := []apihelper.JsonPatch{}